Nalanda Retreat Center Meegolla - Sri Lanka
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History

Few words About our history

How it started...

Shantini, the founder of Nalanda Retreat Center, remembers: 

“Having followed meditation retreats in many centers in India, Thailand, Burma and Sri Lanka, the idea was running through my head to one day build a bungalow in Asia in a place charged with Dharma to retire to when I would stop my activities in Switzerland.

But why isolate myself completely?

I might as well share this place with friends and meditate together.

The idea matured and resulted in building a small Retreat Center. When I told Tilmann Lhundrup – my master of Mahamudra – about it, he provoked me by saying: “You are not going to wait another 10 years to do it!” It was in summer 2017. I immediately contacted Kumar, whom I had met in 2004 during the time when the Tsunami happened.

Kumar spoke English, was familiar with Western mentality and had already built several houses. I knew I could trust him and asked him to look for a land near a lake. 

When I arrived in December 2017...

A friend of Kumar told him about land for sale near a lake. We immediately went to see it and it was perfect! Nothing in me could argue. It was “Yes, yes yes!”
There was already a house with 2 large rooms but the construction had been stopped 6 months before.

The purchase was completed on March 21, 2018. But it did not feel complete: the fence of the neighboring land was very close to the house and above all, a big magnificent Ficus tree was pricked with 6 rows of barbed wire of the fence.

Fortunately, this neighboring land was for sale at that time. Of course, it also had to be acquired… to free the Ficus from its nails so that the house would be in the middle of the land. 
In the early days of the Retreat Center, it was mainly necessary to clear the land from all the weeds and bushes while waiting for building permits.

And then the Center took shape...

The grandparents’ house, the workers’ house, the carpentry workshop, the 2nd floor of the main house and its extension, then the magnificent circle under the Ficus tree around a pond, an individual bungalow, a cowshed – all that is finished.
On January 30, 2024, the opening ceremony took place celebrated by 3 monks from the temple of Meegolla, our village. By now in the Residence 4 double bedrooms are available and  the Meditation Hall and another two-floor bungalow are under construction. 
The Retreat Center is open and we are happy to welcome you. The large room, upstairs, serves as   meditation room until the Meditation Hall will be ready.

Our Team

Committee Members

Tenzin Drölma Satimā

Meditation Teacher

Shantini Charlotte Perret

Founder and Director

Sathiya Kumar Mutturaja

Manager

Dom Baba

Shantini's Companion